dc.description.abstract |
Self-supporting ministry has been accepted by ELCSA (the Evangelical Lutheran Church in
Southern Africa) and should, therefore, be seen as a ministry that, together with full-time ministry,
can contribute to the welfare of the flock entrusted to ministers. In fact, it should not be
distinguished from full-time ministry, since both are indispensible to the ministry. The distinction
that makes one ministry inferior or superior to the other is foreign to Luther’s theology of
vocation and the Lutheran confessions and traditions. It is also foreign to the New Testament,
which accommodates diversity in ministry. The article looks back at the history of Luther and
examines his career as a priest, a professor, an administrator (district vicar) and a parish pastor.
His primary career, from which he earned a living, was as a professor. However, this did not
preclude him from involvement in the parish ministry and in the administration of monasteries.
Thus he was a self-supporting minister in more or less the same way that St Paul was a tentmaker. |
en |